Fill out your lineup card

Just arrived in Jupiter (you fill in the blanks there), and I will provide the requisite links from the $.35/$.50 edition before heading to the clubhouse. Here's Paul Lo Duca and horse racing, and a notebook that talks about the four-man rotation and has some interesting news about a Dominican player they're working out today (though early word is that the workout has been pushed back till this afternoon or perhaps tomorrow morning).

But it's time for an exercise. Between now and the 1:05 p.m. start of Nationals v. Cardinals, please list your lineup for Opening Night against the Braves. The batting order and positions, please. We know right-hander Tim Hudson will start for the Braves.

I am going with this although it was tough on how to hit Dukes, LoDuca and Belliard. I could see moving those guys around. I don't think Acta will bat LoDuca 2nd because I think he is set to have Milledge batting there. So here is mine:

You could also make an argument for Lopez because he can hit lefty and that would balance out the lineup. However, this is the first game and if he isn't named the started how can you have him in the opening day lineup. Also, if Belliard gets traded put Lopez in that spot.

"Anyone received their confirmation/denial e-mail fr om the Nats to purchase OD tix yet? I thought they said they would let people know by today (I better not have to wait until the end of the day to find out if I can buy tix or not)."

Did they actually say they would e-mail people to tell them they *weren't* selected in the Opening Day ticket lottery? I'd be very surprised if they did that. They no doubt received thousands of entries for just a couple hundred tickets. I bet only those relatively few entrants who won the right to purchase tickets will receive an e-mail today. Is there any other lottery in the world that notifies people that they have lost? Hell, a lot of them (such as the Powerball type lotteries) rely on the winners to figure out themselves that they have won. I would say if you don't receive an e-mail today saying you were selected in the lottery, your next stop should be StubHub. Don't bother calling the Nats to ask if you won, because the answer will surely be no.

Braves fan checking in. I haven't seen an official announcement, but I was wondering if Odalis is a lock to start on Opening Night. I assume that the fact that all of you have him batting 9th and pitching, it's all but official, but I thought this would be the best place to find the answer.

Come check out our site if you want. It never hurts to have some good banter between all of us and fans of rival teams, so long as the discussion is kept on baseball and not a bunch of flaming.

I think 1-5 are set and put 6-8 in the order above on the theory that (i) it gives the veterans precedence over Dukes; (ii) it takes some pressure off Dukes; and (iii) it gives you some semblance of a second 1-2-3 type lineup in the second half of the order.

By far the worst idea yet! They never cease to amaze me with their stupidity. Probably not a good idea to start off the season pitching Bergmann on 3-days rest, you know, considering his history of arm trouble and all. Oh, Redding too.

Even with WMP hurt, this is a much more potent lineup than 2007's, perhaps due entirely to the absence of Nook Logan. Offensively, Lo Duca is an upgrade, and there's at least the expectation that Dukes will outperform Church.

Add Johnson's OBP and throw in Young's average off the bench, and I'm downright excited.

Did they actually say they would e-mail people to tell them they *weren't* selected in the Opening Day ticket lottery? I'd be very surprised if they did that. They no doubt received thousands of entries for just a couple hundred tickets. I bet only those relatively few entrants who won the right to purchase tickets will receive an e-mail today. Is there any other lottery in the world that notifies people that they have lost? I would say if you don't receive an e-mail today saying you were selected in the lottery, your next stop should be StubHub.

Posted by: Section 419+1 | March 25, 2008 10:30 AM
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The Yankess did an online registration for the chance to purcahse OD tix or Red Sox tix. I signed up because if I'd won I'd have sold the Sox-Yanks tix to my friend. I received an e-mail telling me that I hadn't won the chance, but that tickets to other Yanks games were still available (a rather smart marketing move, if you ask me).

Perhaps I'm too optimistic to think that it would be a good PR/Customer Service move for the Nats to contact all registrants reagrdless if they won or not. I seem to get a couple of e-mails daily from them telling me that I can purchase pathetic looking merchandise for 20-50% off, so I think it is do-able to e-mail all that entered.

Another possibility is leading off with Milledge, Belliard 2-hole, and put Guzman down to 8 for a little speed at the bottom.
Ahh, how lovely it would be to have a semi-legitimate on-base/speed combo at the top of the order.
A Nats fan can dream...

Also, I believe the Sox and A's received $40K for the trip, not $14K. It is about marketing. That's why the NYY went in '04, the Dodgers went to China earlier this Spring, and I think the NYM went to Japan previously.

Nice game today, but where do those teams come up with such shakey closers? Street blew the game and the Lord of the Dance almost coughed it back. Run 'em both out of town.

On closers and the K-Rod /Chad comparison -I think a huge difference in K/9. Past 3 years for K-Rod K/9 is over 12, while Chad's K/9 is 7.8. Chad is also much more of a fly ball pitcher (KRod is about 1+:1, while Chad is 3:4). Thus, a lot more balls are hit off of Chad, and when they are hit, they are more liekly to be int he air.

Both are around 3:1 K/BB, and size-wise, they are both listed as 6' 0" and 195 - 200 lbs, so I suppose that is the similarity.

"Perhaps I'm too optimistic to think that it would be a good PR/Customer Service move for the Nats to contact all registrants reagrdless if they won or not. I seem to get a couple of e-mails daily from them telling me that I can purchase pathetic looking merchandise for 20-50% off, so I think it is do-able to e-mail all that entered."

The Nats FO has shown good ability to send out marketing e-mails to a laundry list of recipients, I would agree. But as for them being able to create a mailing list of people who fit a certain characteristic (e.g. having won or lost a lottery) and making sure that they don't inadvertently send e-mail to people outside that exclisive list, not so much. It's probably all they can do to accurately notify the lottery winners. If they wanted to also send an e-mail to the losers offering them some sort of consolation prize, although it would be a good idea I can imagine multiple situations where the same person would get one e-mail saying they'd won and another e-mail saying they'd lost. As with everything Nats ticket office-related, baby steps. Let them get the notification of winners right this year, and then maybe next year they'll be ready to take on more.

This might be the better lineup come May 1st if Milledge and Zimm are really hitting and Wily Mo is back

Guzman
Johnson
Milledge
Zimmerman
Pena
Kearns
LoDuca
Belliard
Pitcher

Johnson just gets on so much and if Milledge can show what he is capable of it might be smart to make the switch. Also, if Kruk is right and Zimm is going to hit 50 HRs this year, he should be batting 4th.

It is a fun lineup to play with. I just wish we had a true leadoff hitter. That is something the Nats really need to go after next year or this year with a few trades.

I'll not venture a guess here as I'm sure someone above me has nailed it down already. I would suggest Barry that you invite the first person to have it right an invitation to join you in the pressbox at a later date this season. The only prediction I'll make is that Hanrahan will bail out Perez and qualify for the win after a late rally only to have CC having us on pins and needles in the 9th. Afterall, how many blown saves has he had against the Braves? I can think of a few but I'm sure some of you know exactly the number.

I went back and found the press release Barry posted here regarding Opening Day lottery.

I was wrong about Friday. You'll get an email today.

"Selected winners will be notified via e-mail on Tuesday, March 25 and will have 24 hours to purchase their tickets. Tickets must be printed at home and will not be available for pick up at the Box Office Will Call."

i think milledge looks like he has the potential to be a classic #2 hitter and NJ is a great #3. then again, zimm looks like a pretty good #3, too. i'd rather see milledge stay in that 2 hole for the whole season.

sadly, we're missing a classic leadoff *and* cleanup hitter. at least for now. maybe dukes could be a good cleanup hitter down the line. but we don't have one now.

Now that we're talking about opening night, would it be foolish to take the Nats' offer to drive to RFK and take their shuttle? I have visions of waiting hours to get back to my car when the game is over?

And why does Acta want to make two starters go on short rest until Hill returns? What's wrong with calling Lannan up until Hill returns?

I think most of here on pretty much the same page with regards to the opening day lineups, so I won't reiterate what's already been written - mine is not any different than anything that's already been posted. I definitely think we have a pretty solid lineup, though (as others have mentioned) we do lack a true lead-off hitter.

On another note, it looks like they're working on the big Curly W on the centerfield grass :)

I think we're nearing a consensus, with a very small amount of divergence on 6-8. There are some weird outliers (no WAY Lastings bats 7 or 8 after hitting 2 ALL preseason), but I think we've pretty much nailed it.

I think Dukes will be good-to-go (*but Mack gets nod if not). Also, the way Belly is hitting this spring he gets the edge over Dukes and LoDuca. I like the idea of giving Dukes some protection, which would mean batting him 7th, and not 8th. LoDuca is a low-K contact hitter, meaning you have to pitch to Dukes (more of a free swinger), instead of throwing him all junk to get to the 9 spot. At least, that's my theory this early on. LOVE having potential high-BA guys at 6 and 8, with some pop in between. SUCH a change from last year:

I still think that benching Lopez is not the best move unless it was truly about losing the clubhouse. Nobody on the team makes sense to hit leadoff besides Lopez and I wouldn't be surprised to see Guzman hitting .265 with a .310 obp by the end of April or may. At that point do we go with Lastings for leadoff? I guess we'll see.

Ditto to that dk. On the day of the Milledge trade I got a call from my buddy who is a mets fan living in the DC area. We've gone to at least 10 games a year together since the Nats made their move to DC so he knows both teams pretty well. Lets just say that the last time i had heard him sound that upset, Beltran had just struck out looking on a nasty curve in the 9th of game seven.

1. It was a little disturbing to wake up at 6AM, shower, get dressed and turn the ball game on??? BTW, I like the upgrades to game day. Also, maybe I'm a little xenophobic, but it seems to me to be somewhat sacriligious to have opening day in any place other than the US (specifically DC or Cincy).

2. Is Manny thinking short or long term. I would posit that Zimm is a #3 now, but in a couple of years will be a #4. Do you slot him where he will be most productive in '08 or put him in the slot he is likely to occupy in '10 (unless either WMP or Dukes turns out to be a real fence buster?)?

C'mon, #1L, don't scare the Braves fans with hints of haiku -- they'll run off and hide inside the Cyclorama, or maybe Coca-Cola World. This is Georgia, remember; they'll think "haiku" is something you'd order in one of Buckhead's fancier dining establishments.

Seriously, B-F, welcome. As someone who grew up cheering for the Atlanta Braves (but who got over it in 2005) a little good-natured backing and forthing over the Internet should be fun for all. Especially since you'll lose.

As for the lineup card, I'd fill mine out pretty much the same as Vienna did at 10:28am today; except instead of Kearns batting fifth and Belliard sixth, I'd put them vice versa.

"And why does Acta want to make two starters go on short rest until Hill returns? What's wrong with calling Lannan up until Hill returns?"

Going with only four starters until Hill comes off the DL frees up a roster spot that they can use for an extra position player or an extra reliever, instead of it being occupied by a pitcher who'd only appear in two games during that time. Since someone is going to have to be sent down to make room for Hill on 4/13 (or Lannan, if Hill's not ready by then), in essence they are gaining a couple of weeks of spring training time to take a look at those players on the bubble before having to decide which one doesn't make the team. The tradeoff is possible extra wear and tear on the two pitchers who will pitch on short rest, and I guess they figure the extra time to look at marginal players (and whatever extra offense/relief they will offer during that time) is worth the risk.

Braves fan checking in. I haven't seen an official announcement, but I was wondering if Odalis is a lock to start on Opening Night. I assume that the fact that all of you have him batting 9th and pitching, it's all but official, but I thought this would be the best place to find the answer.

Come check out our site if you want. It never hurts to have some good banter between all of us and fans of rival teams, so long as the discussion is kept on baseball and not a bunch of flaming.

Posted by: Braves-Nation.com | March 25, 2008 10:39 AM

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Seriously, B-F, welcome. As someone who grew up cheering for the Atlanta Braves (but who got over it in 2005) a little good-natured backing and forthing over the Internet should be fun for all. Especially since you'll lose.

As for the lineup card, I'd fill mine out pretty much the same as Vienna did at 10:28am today; except instead of Kearns batting fifth and Belliard sixth, I'd put them vice versa.

BTW, It's not actually mowed into the grass. WaPo did a feature on this, last year (I think). They actually bend the grass, using a pattern. Apparently, this can only be done a limited number of times a year, as it will, somehow permanently damage the grass.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/12/2009-mlb-free-a.html This is the link to 09 Free agents not to many leadoff hitters avalible except for Rafael Furcal and David Extein. Maybe they'd bring back Orlando Cabrera.